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Her skirt was by Orla Kiely skirt and her jacket was by MaxMara she also sported a pair of gloves by Cornelia James (who makes them for the Queen), a £245 Russell and Bromley blue suede Muse bag and Alexander McQueen heels.

Her hair was, sensibly given the gusty conditions, swept back in a ‘half up, half down do’, showing off a pair of Annoushka pearl earrings.

Tierney, who did not know she was going to be presenting the posy until she arrived at the venue this morning, said: 'I was nervous but excited. The Duchess said she wanted to say hello to the rest of the class, so I took her inside.'

Kate was presented with a bouquet of pale roses by local schoolgirl Tierney Potter

Her pleated skirt was by Orla Kiely skirt and her matching navy jacket was by MaxMara

Kate was attending the charity's 'Resilience and Emotional Strength in Schools Forum' at the offices of Clifford Chance in Canary Wharf, London

Kate seemed to be enjoying the day, despite the chilly - and rather windy- weather

Kate's hair was, sensibly given the gusty conditions, swept back in a ‘half up, half down do’, showing off a pair of Annoushka pearl earrings

St
Edmunds is one of more than 200 schools across the country which works
in partnership with Place2Be to offer mental health support services.

Kate herself was reportedly so badly bullied as a child that she moved schools to escape her tormentors.

The
Duchess is said to have been a victim of bullying at the private Downe
House school in Berkshire, which she left after just two terms to attend
Marlborough College in Wiltshire.

Susan
Cameron, the former headmistress of Downe House, suggested the Duchess
was 'teased' during her time there, and was 'unsettled and not
particularly happy'.

Friends at Marlborough College have also confirmed that Kate was bullied at her previous school.One,
Gemma Williamson, told the Mail: 'Catherine arrived suddenly during the
middle of the year. Apparently she had been bullied very badly at her
previous school and she certainly looked very thin and pale, with these
large, dark rings round her eyes. Although she wasn't unfriendly, she
had very little confidence.’

Indeed,
Kate also asked for donations to be made to the charity Beat Bullying
in lieu of wedding gifts when she married Prince William in 2011.

Nine-year-old Tierney from the local Tower Hamlets school St. Edmunds didn't know she would be presenting the Duchess with flowers until Wednesday morning

The Duchess of Cambridge meet Tierney's classmates while at the offices of Clifford Chance in Canary Wharf

As
the Duchess took her place in a conference theatre today, Benita Refson
OBE, chief executive of Place2Be, told the audience: 'Childhood and
adolescence is a vulnerable time. Trauma, domestic violence, family
breakdown, substance abuse and the impact of poverty all mean that
children come to school with more than a satchel on their back. The
consequences can be devastating.

'For the cost of two coffees we can offer a child 15 minutes of uninterrupted time where they feel understood and supported.

'Children deserve to be given the stability to bounce back from life’s adversities.'

Ms Refson said of the Duchess's visit: 'It was both a huge honour and pleasure to welcome the Duchess to our forum today.

St Edmunds is one of more than 200 schools across the country which works in partnership with Place2Be to offer mental health support services

Benita Refson, CEO of Place2Be said of the Duchess's visit: 'It was both a huge honour and pleasure to welcome the Duchess to our forum today'

The charity Place2Be is designed to support children aged 4-14 years old, their parents, carers and teachers with wide-ranging and often complex social issues including bullying, bereavement, domestic violence, family breakdown, neglect and trauma

'Life
can be tough for children for all sorts of reasons - from entrenched
issues such as neglect and abuse, through to facing family breakdown and
loss - and it's critical that children have someone to turn to, who
will listen.

'The main role of teachers is to educate children and help them achieve their full potential.

'However
their dedication extends beyond purely academic results to the overall
well-being and mental health of their pupils and their families, as is
clear from their presence at the forum today.'

Kate enjoyed the event so much she decided to stay for an hour longer than planned.

Kensington
Palace confirmed it had been a spur-of-the-moment decision by the
Duchess to attend two further sessions, on tackling addiction and
preventing self-harm.

She is particularly interested in the issue of addiction, as patron of Action on Addiction, one of her nine patronages.

Kate enjoyed the event so much she decided to stay for an hour longer than planned and Kensington Palace confirmed it had been a spur-of-the-moment decision by the Duchess

As she exited the offices Kate made sure she didn't repeat her earlier 'Marilyn' moment by holding down her pleated skirt

Kate took the opportunity while at the event to speak to experts about early years development, asking Prof Byron specifically about babies and toddlers.

Prof Byron said: 'She was very interested in the early years, 0 to five year olds, which I guess is because she's a new mother but also because she's interested.'

Kate also spoke to the professor about issues facing young people in the digital age.

She told her that yesterday - on a visit with Prince William to crime prevention charity Only Connect - she had been hearing about 'sexting', the exchange of graphic pictures and messages on mobile phones.

Kate explained to the professors that yesterday on a visit with Prince William to crime prevention charity Only Connect she had been hearing about 'sexting', the exchange of graphic pictures and messages on mobile phones

Kate took the opportunity while at the event to speak to experts about early years development, asking Prof Byron specifically about babies and toddlers

Prof Byron said it meant a lot to have Kate supporting the charity, and the wider issues surrounding children's mental health.

She said: 'She's a mother and she's obviously high profile. She's interested and she's really engaged.

'When I was speaking, she said to the person next to her: "I hope you're making notes".

'She's genuinely engaged with the issues. She has given us such a seal of approval in a very public manner, from a woman who is loved by the public and has become a mother herself.

'The Duchess was asking questions, and mentioned she was at a meeting yesterday when the issue of sexting came up as well.'

Prof Byron said Kate also asked about the pre-frontal cortex, which governs emotional behaviour, and how the wiring of that part of the brain develops between the ages of 11 and 14.

She added: 'She is a really bright, thoughtful woman and it was so nice to meet her.'

Ms Refson said: 'Tough topics were covered today, but it was hugely inspiring and encouraging seeing experts from across education and mental health uniting in their passion to tackle problems affecting children, and a shared vision of hope and prosperity for our future generation - translating the potential for collaboration into a reality holds the key to truly meeting children's often multiple and challenging needs and giving them back the childhood they deserve.'

The Duchess also chose an Orla Kiely dress for her charity visit to Only Connect on Monday

Kate and her husband William seemed realxed and happy as they enjoyed a dance performance as part of their Only Connect visit

The
charity is designed to support children aged 4-14 years old, their
parents, carers and teachers with wide-ranging and often complex social
issues including bullying, bereavement, domestic violence, family
breakdown, neglect and trauma.

It
is believed that Kate's decision to become patron on of the charity
stemmed from her own experience of bullying as a schoolgirl as boarding
school.

Yesterday Kate joined
her husband, Prince William, on a visit to the offices of Only Connect, a
charity which helps ex-prisoners and those at risk of offending.

She earned fashion plaudits for wearing a brown £162.50 Orla Kierley coat dress for the second time.

Place2Be
says it helps children to 'steer away from a downward spiral of low
aspirations, truancy and exclusion from school, so that they can achieve
their potential both in and outside the classroom and face brighter
futures as they deserve'.

The Duchess will spend the morning at the forum listening to and meeting with event speakers.

Among
the issues to be tackled are: cyberbullying; helping parents make
strong and well-adjusted children; self-harm; special educational needs
today; raising aspirations, access and achievement; and preventing
addiction.

Leading experts,
including Professor Tanya Byron and Professor Stephen Scott, will
address the forum as well as experts from across the health and
education sectors.

Other
speakers include Simon Marshall, Head Teacher at Highfield Community
Primary School, Sunderland on the subject of A Fighting Chance: Building
Emotional Resilience as a Fundamental Strategy for School Improvement.

THE QUEEN'S £1.50 TRICK FOR AVOIDING WARDROBE MALFUNCTIONS

The Queen's tailor sews Peter Jones curtain weights into her hemlines to keep them from blowing away

Last year the Mail revealed how,
despite conducting thousands of public engagements in her 60 years on
the throne, the Queen’s decorum has almost never slipped.

Slipped
inside the lining of each of the Queen’s exquisite hand-made outfits
are a couple of small lead curtain weights, costing just £1.50 for a
packet of four.

The small circular weights, measure just 1.2inches (32mm) across and weigh less than an ounce each.

And
they are sourced, of all places, from the curtain accessories section
of famous Chelsea department store, Peter Jones, by her favourite
couturier, Stewart Parvin.

Society
dressmaker Mr Parvin then neatly stitches them into the hem of her
garments, which prevents them from blowing up in the wind.

The
surprisingly cheap trick seems to work, for the Queen has seemingly
never been photographed in public looking even remotely ruffled.

‘The
beauty of a handmade outfit is that it hangs just right but, of course,
we have a few tricks up our sleeve,’ Mr Parvin told the Daily Mail in
an exclusive interview.

‘Surprisingly,
it is nothing fancy. I use curtain weights, lead weights, from Peter
Jones’s curtain department. We call them penny weights.

Kate had another Marilyn moment in September
2012 when her Jenny Packham dress was caught in a gust of wind on the
runway at Calgary airport, Canada (left) while Princess Diana almost
lost her composure at Gatwick in 1991 (right when high winds whipped at
her wrap-around skirt

‘I just pop a couple into the hemline of her dresses and coats and it makes them hang beautifully.If
there is a flap in the coat then I will sew in one on each side of the
split to even it up. And sometimes if she is wearing a lightweight
chiffon skirt I will sew in an even smaller lead weight the size of a
pea or even a length of chain, rather like a dog’s chain. But the
curtain weights work beautifully.’

Unfortunately not all female royals follow the Queen’s lead and have, on occasions, fallen foul of the elements.

The
Duchess of Cambridge came perilously close to causing a diplomatic
incident on her inaugural royal tour of Canada in 2011 when a gust of
wind whipped her primrose Jenny Packham summer dress up around her
thighs.

The late Diana,
Princess of Wales, the Duchess of York and her daughter, Princess
Beatrice, have all suffered similar wardrobe malfunctions.

Even the Queen isn't totally safe from the British weather, seen here arriving at grandson William's RAF base in North Wales in April 2011